99 Days Of Halloween

 Ideas... I have SO MANY ideas for Halloween projects because I'm a maker/crafter. But once the new project excitement has worn off work begins to slack off and I rarely finish them. I started this blog project so I'd self-motivate myself to make progress daily or at least weekly. Sadly I'm not even close to daily because I can't sustain the daily grind. The pressure sorta takes the joy out of the season if you know what I mean. This blog should be named 'whole buncha stuff about Halloween throughout the year' and it would be more accurate. But since this is mostly (or all) an undiscovered blog I'm my worst critic. It's not new but since I haven't been active or promoted it, no one's seeing it. This year I'm being kind to myself, keep up the best I can and call it good. This is my first post for 2024 and this season I'm on a mission to complete my unfinished projects while allowing myself to start a few more. In August '22 I found a H...

Today it's official- there's only 99 days until Halloween 2023. Let the ooky-spooky fun begin! Is it just me or is it hard to feel an October vibe when it's sunny and HOT? A Starbucks PS latte would help but it's still too early for that! My pumpkin patch is loving this bright sunny weather but me? I'm an Oregon girl and prefer cooler weather.    I've been seeing new Halloween stuff in stores for a few weeks, craft stores especially. Stores are finally catching on that Halloween really is a BIG thing and have started to put their seasonal stuff out much earlier. Suits me- I'm always looking for fabric with small scale prints for tiny doll dresses.  I'm been busy working on a series of Halloween themed dolls using vintage Nancy Ann Storybook Dolls as the base. These very old dolls are being upcycled to for the 21st century. Don't worry collectors- I only use damaged or incomplete dolls for this project. They get cleaned up and then I make colorful wig...

OMG I miscounted and almost missed writing my first 2021 post on my 99 Days of Halloween blog!! In my defense I think I either counted today or didn’t count Halloween. Or maybe I'm a day early… whatever. At least I caught my mistake. It’s sorta hot (since it’s July) and tho I ❤️ Halloween I don’t feel very Halloween-ish right now. But my car's tellin' a different story! I'm an avid thrift shopper & crafter. The photo up 👆🏻 shows 3 of my recent finds. The family hasn't seen the clown mask before today... I expect some objections to its presence in my dining or living room, lol!  That's a vintage 50s Madam Alexander doll behind the clown face. I don't think she's a creeper but she DOES need eyelashes. If you're part of the group that says 'OMG creepy doll' any time you see a vintage doll, well... to each their own! 

Pumpkins in our front yard Yes, I planted pumpkins in our front yard 2 months ago and I'm as excited as a little kid, watching them grow! I've never grown them successfully before... EVER! The seeds I used were from last year's jack o'lanterns that I carved with the grandkids. Theirs were 2 different kinds of mystery squash-kins... squat and super hard to carve. Mine was a classic carving pumpkin from a local grocery store. I started the seeds in my greenhouse exactly 3 months ago (April 29th) and you can see how successful that was!  Classic pumpkin Piggyback (oops, the top one rolled off) Dangler (I'll have to add a support this one) Jack-B-Littles for the dolls! There's 6 mounds of pumpkins across the front of my new flower garden bed with some fresh compost/soil. Maybe that's why they're so very happy. The 'Jacks' are marching forward across the lawn and sprawling backwards towards the house thru the bed of cutting flowers and sunflowers.  Su...

and it's freaking HOT! I have to admit that once again I hadn't planned ahead. Getting myself psyched up for a late October holiday when it's only July and hot as Hell is a lot harder than I expected. Here in S Portland it was 100 degrees today, 85 degrees in my work room. I live in a large old house without AC. Yeah, I suffer in the heat. I could put a small air conditioner in my window but it gets really hot maybe 10 days total... I decided to not bother. A fan does the job okay and when it gets too hot I move my project downstairs or outside to some shade. Today I worked on sorting & organizing my supplies, for decorating and crafting. I've been a vintage seller and avid crafter for decades so I have a LOT of sewing and craft supplies... fabric, yarn, buttons & beads etc. Keeping it organized is a constant challenge. I thought about going 'Kondo' on it but as soon as I donate something, I need it within a month and it's not easy to replace a 50 ye...

October 31st. Halloween! That word makes me nostalgic for a night of plastic masks, bowls of homemade vegetable soup for dinner, a steady drizzle (classic Oregon late October weather) and dashing from door to door yelling Trick or Treat! Afterwards we brought our loot home for Mom to examine before we got to eat the full-size candy bars. This was a yearly one-night event when I was a kid growing up in the outer suburbs of Portland, Oregon in the 60s.  Fast forward to 2020. Yep, if you do the math I’m an old lady and I still LOVE Halloween! It’s a billion dollar industry and commercialized, monetized and advertised up the wazoo but that doesn’t bother me a single bit. Bring it on! I’ve always said I love the MONTH of Halloween… all October long. This is a big birthday month in our family including both the grandkids, sister, niece, honorary daughters AND myself. We have parties and cake galore! The weather is downshifting into winter but fall is often sunny and warm during the d...